Fairchild Semiconductor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Semiconductor

Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. was an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957 as a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument, it became a pioneer in the manufacturing of transistors and of integrated circuits. Schlumberger bought the firm in 1979 and sold it to National Semiconductor in 1987; Fairchild was spun off as an independent company again in 1997. In September 2016, Fairchild was acquired by ON Semiconductor.

The company has locations in the United States at San Jose, California; South Portland, Maine; West Jordan, Utah; and Mountaintop, Pennsylvania. Outside the U.S. it operates locations in Singapore; Bucheon, South Korea; Penang, Malaysia; Suzhou, China; and Cebu, Philippines, among others.

Company history

2000s
On March 19, 2001 Fairchild Semiconductor announced that it had completed the acquisition of Intersil Corporation’s discrete power business for approximately $338 million in cash. The acquisition moved Fairchild to a position as the second largest power MOSFET supplier in the world, representing a 20 percent share of this $3 billion market that grew 40 percent last year.

On September 6, 2001 Fairchild Semiconductor announced the acquisition of Impala Linear Corporation, based in San Jose, CA for approximately $6 million in stock and cash. Impala brought with it expertise in designing analog power management semiconductors for hand-held devices like laptops, MP3 players, cell phones, portable test equipment and PDA’s.

On January 9, 2004, Fairchild Semiconductor CEO Kirk Pond was appointed as a Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, elected by member banks to serve a three-year term.

On April 13, 2005, Fairchild announced appointment of Mark Thompson as CEO of the corporation. Thompson would also be President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Fairchild Semiconductor International. He originally joined Fairchild as Executive Vice President, Manufacturing and Technology Group.

On March 15, 2006 Fairchild Semiconductor announced that Kirk P. Pond would retire as Chairman at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on May 3, 2006. Pond would continue as a member of the company’s board of directors. Mark Thompson, then CEO, became Chairman.

On September 1, 2007, New Jersey-based RF semiconductor supplier Anadigics acquired Fairchild Semiconductor’s RF design team, located in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, for $2.4 million.

2010s
In April 2011, Fairchild Semiconductor acquired TranSiC, a silicon carbide power transistor company, originally based in Sweden.

On November 18, 2015 ON Semiconductor made an offer to acquire Fairchild Semiconductor for $2.4 billion, or $20 per share after a few months of speculation that Fairchild was seeking a potential buyer.

On April 10, 2016 Fairchild Semiconductor moved its headquarters from San Jose (3030 Orchard Pkwy) to Sunnyvale (1272 Borregas Ave.)

On September 19, 2016 ON Semiconductor and Fairchild Semiconductor jointly announced that ON Semiconductor has completed its announced $2.4 billion cash acquisition of Fairchild.

In the fall of 2016 the Fairchild ‘ON’ Semiconductor International closed the West Jordan, Utah manufacturing plant.